There’s a lot to do for your wedding, and it can send you into a bit of a tailspin. But if you slow down and learn to enjoy organising everything, you can have fun instead of stressing out. If you’re a creative person or just like party planning, it can be an exciting experience. One of the areas where it’s enjoyable to look at different ideas and consider hundreds of different choices if your decorations.
You probably have a mood board with cutouts or a Pinterest board with all your favourite ideas on it already. But if you don’t, you can find lots of ideas very quickly. There are a few things you’ll need to consider, from tablecloths to party favours.
Photo by Dave Walker
Table Layout
Before you can decorate your tables and set places for everyone, you’re going to need to decide on the design of your tables. Doing so will also need you to pick some tables and chairs. Will you choose round tables or rectangular ones? You could have a traditional top table, or everyone could mingle together. Your seating will probably depend on how many guests you have. If you’re having a smaller wedding, you might even be able to fit everyone around one large round or long rectangular table. Many couples choose to have chair covers and tablecloths on their tables and chairs, but a lovely idea for an outdoor reception is using exposed wood.
Linen
If you want to have some beautiful table linen, you’ll need tablecloths and napkins, and perhaps chair covers too. At many weddings, you’ll find they start with plain white wedding table linen and add accents. This option is easiest if you’re holding your reception at a hotel, for example. But if you’re not a fan of tying colourful bows around the backs of chairs, there are lots of other things you can do. Perhaps you can choose a theme for the whole table, either on a colour or something else, like a rustic or fairy tale theme. You could even make your own napkins and tablecloths if you can’t find anything you like. They make quite easy projects, even if you’ve never sewn anything before.
Centrepieces
If you want your tables to be show-stopping, an eye-catching centrepiece is a must. There are so many things you can do to jazz up your tables. It’s popular to choose flowers as the basis for the centrepiece, but you certainly don’t have to. You can think about the theme you’ve chosen, or perhaps the season. You could use candles, crockery, sculptures and anything else you can think of to help bring your tables to life. You might also choose not to have a big centrepiece at all – after all, you don’t want them blocking anyone’s view of each other.
Party Favours
It’s always nice to find some cute party favours on your table at a wedding. You can use sweets or chocolates, but you can get more imaginative too. Why not leave your guests something they can treasure for longer, such as a bottle opener, a rubber stamp or a notecard?
Once you start thinking about your wedding reception tables, you’ll be brimming with ideas. Just make sure you set a budget, so you don’t run away with yourself!